from their Callings and casting them into Prisons and Dungeons and keeping of them there by Hundreds and Thousands for nothing but because they are Godly and because they love the Lord Jesus Christ and dare not sin against the Lord Surely the Hand of the Lord will one Day take hold of Judgement for these things and he will assuredly render Vengeance to his Enemies and reward them that hate him for the Arrows of the Lord are ordained against the Persecutors Deut. 32.41 42. Psal 7.13 Therefore though the enemies of God may now flourish and prosper for a while and lye upon Beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches and eat the Lambs out of the Flock and the Calves out of the Stall and drink Wine in Bowels and annoint themselves with the chief Ointments yet when the Lord comes to Plead with the Nations for the Controversie of Sion Then they will be ready to run and hide themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Mountains and call to the Mountains and Rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Therefore under this Consideration let 's not faint nor be discouraged in our Progress towards Heaven for if the Lord be on our side we need not fear what Man can do unto us Reas 3. Because our greatest and our worst Adversaries I mean our Persecutors are but Men that shall die poor vile sinful mortal men whose Breath is in their nostrils whose Lives are uncertain and whose greatest glory is but perishing vanity and when they are at their greatest strength and in their greatest Pride The Lord can but put forth his hand and touch them and lo they become as nothing and the Lord can but put forth his voice and call for their Breath and lo they become but dust and meat for Worms Therefore great Reason why we should not be afraid of their greatest Terrour For alas they may threaten great things against the People of God yea and be ready to Swear it may be that such and such things shall be done unto them the next Week or the next Month when it may be the next day they themselves are summoned to their Graves and so never live to see their wicked Designes accomplished Therefore see how the Scripture Reproves Persons under this Consideration for being afraid of man Isaâ— 51.12 13. Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of man that shall DYE and of the Son of man which shall be made as GRASSE And forgettest the Lord thy Maker that hath stretched forth the Heavens and laid the Foundations of the Earth and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the Oppressour as if he were ready to destroy and where is the fury of the Oppressour So that it is below the Spirit of a Saint to be afraid of any perishing Creature it is a shame for a Living Saint to be afraid of a Dying Sinner it is a great dishonour to God for Saints to be afraid of a mortal man and forget the fear of the living God it 's a shame for a Saint whose strength is in the Lord to be afraid of a man whose greatest strength is weakness it 's a shame for a Saint whose hope and Confidence is in the God of Jacob to be afraid of a man whose Expectation shall perish it 's a horrid thing that Saints should be more afraid to serve the Lord then wicked men are to serve the Devil Therefore let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and never fear what man can do unto us Rea. 4. Because though we may be troubled and disturbed on every side by man yet we have Peace and Favour with God and though men may account us as the filth and the off-scouring of the World yet the Lord doth esteem us as his Jewels and his peculiar Treasure And this may be sufficient to bear up our Souls in the greatest of troubles to consider That though the World may hate us with cruel hatred yet the Lord loveth the Righteous and taketh pleasure in his People and though the World may be our Enemy and frown upon us yet the Lord is our Friend and will smile upon us with the Light of his Countenance and refresh our Souls with the choice manifestations of his Spirit and presence and though in the World we may have Tribulation and Sorrow yet in God we may have Peace and Comfort and Joy in the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore see where our Saviour Christ makes this a great Reason against Fear Joh. 14.27 where he speaks thus Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you for alas the world many times giveth Peace and presently takes it away again it may give Peace and rest a little to Day and it may be Sorrow and Trouble to Morrow But now sayes Christ I give not Peace after this manner But my Peace ILEAVE with you that is it shall continue and Tarry with you and none shall be able to take it from you Well what then suppose it be so why let not your hearts be Troubled neither let them be afraid for though your Enemies may Rob and Deprive you of your outward Comforts and outward Enjoyments yet they shall never be able to east you out of my Favour nor Deprive you of that inward Comfort and Spiritual Refreshment that I will give unto you and leave with you Therefore be not afraid of their Terrour neither let your hearts be Troubled And so likewise see the Apostle Rom. 5.1 3. Therefore being Justified by Faith we have Peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord So that now we do not onely Rejoyce in the hope of Glory But we also Rejoyce and Glory in all our Tribulations and are filled with Comfort in all our afflictions 2 Cor. 7.4 Therefore let us endeavour to keep in the Love and Favour of God and then we need not fear what man can do unto us Rea. 5. Because all our Sufferings which are for Righteousness sake work together for our good and great advantage and will add to our future Glory and happiness there is no misery that can befall us upon the account of Godliness but it will prove an addition to to our Eternal Happiness Every step we trace in sorrow will be to the increase of our Eternal Joy Therefore this may be another great Reason why we should not fear the worst that man can do unto us for alas whatever they do unto us they cannot hurt us if we keep close to God they can do us no Injury at all Nay the more they Persecute us if it be for Christ the more it will conduce to our Good and Benefit Oh what a glorious Encouragement is this for poor Persecuted Saints to hold out in a Day of Tryal and to bear up their Souls
the Truth upon the Earth and take the Tribulations of the Gospel chearfully and joyfully yea we shall make our very Enemies admire at us if we have but a right spirit upon this account when they shall see and take notice how we are troubled on every side and how we are Persecuted and Afflicted and trampled under foot and yet we are chearful and full of Courage and not at all daunted nor terrified at it They must needs think there is more than ordinary in our Profession and so by that means God is exceedingly glorified and his Truth admired by his Enemies though possibly they may still obstinately and willingly oppose it yet notwithstanding they shall by this means be left without excuse and the power of the Truth shall witness against them to the praise and glory of God and to the peace and comfort of our own Souls Therefore saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 4.14 If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory resteth upon you On their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified There is also a notable passage of our Saviour Christ concerning Peter John 21.18 19. Verily verily saith Christ unto Peter when thou wast young thou girdest thy self and walkest whither thou wouldst but when thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not This spake he signifying by what death he should GLORIFIE God So that it seems those that have so much Courage as to suffer chearfully for the Name of Christ and to lay down their lives for the sake of Christ their Death and Sufferings will tend much to the Glory of God and to the Eternal Blisse and Happiness of their own Souls Therefore when our Enemies shall threaten us and command us to speak nor preach no more in the Name of Jesus nor Meet any more to Worship God in his own way Let us with Peter and John ask them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye And let us tell them plainly to their faces That we must obey God rather than Men Therefore we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard and we cannot but practise the things which we have learned and received in Command from Jesus Christ There are two notable and very remarkable Examples worthy of our Consideration which I shall briefly urge for our Encouragement in this matter The one is concerning the three Children in Dan. 3.16 17 18. Oh! that there were but such a spirit amongst the People of God now in this day of Sions bleeding Well but let us a little consider how they behaved themselves the King had made a Decree and given forth Command That all People should fall down and Worship the Golden Image which he he had set up and whosoever would not should the same hour be cast into the midst of a Burning fiery Furnace Well but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they broke his Decree and disobeyed his Command and was not at all afraid of his fury nor terrified at the punishment and when they were called to an account before the King for this their Disobedience to his Decree he proffered them Pardon upon condition of their now complying But if not they must expect to feel the effects of his Rage and Fury in the Fiery Furnace and who is that God that should deliver them out of his hands Well now it is come to this with them they must either Turn or Burn they must either Bow to the Image or be Burnt in the Fire they must either conform with their Bodies to the Kings Command or else expose their Bodies to the Burning Flames Well and how did they behave themselves in this Case See the story and you shall find it at large Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the King O Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the Burning Fiery Furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King But now Herein consists chiefly the Excellency of their Spirit in the next words therefore mark But if not whether God will deliver us or no Yet be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the Golden Image which thou hast set up Here 's an admirable Spirit for the service of God full of Confidence and Resolution for the Glory of the true and living God As much as if they should say If it be so O King do thy worst we matter it not our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and he will deliver us from thy Rage and Cruelty O King therefore we are not careful to answer thee in the Business And further we testifie unto thee O King that whether he will deliver us or not deliver us whether we Burn or not Burn come Life or come Death yet we would have thee to know O King that we will not serve thy Gods nor we will not worship the Golden Image which thou hast set up Oh therefore now let us endeavour to bear upon our hearts the Example of these three Famous Children or rather Champions of the most High God That we may through their example be provoked and Encouraged to hold fast the Name and Faith of Jesus Christ even in the worst Condition that may befall us that so being Faithfull unto Death we may receive the Crown of Life and sit with Christ in his Throne and Kingdom Another Example that I shall take notice of for our Consideration and Encouragement is concerning Paul in Acts 21.13 which indeed is very Remarkable and worthy of our observation and practise Paul it seems had some Work to do for God at Jerusalem and was much pressed in Spirit to go and bear witness to the Name of Jesus there But it seems before he went he was foretold in a Figure how he should Suffer when he came there and how he should be delivered into the hands of Persecutors for there was a certain Prophet named Agabus came down from Judea and when he was come among the Disciples he took Pauls Girdle and bound his own hands and Feet with it and Prophesied in the Spirit that so the Jews at Jerusalem should bind the Man that owed that Girdle and should deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles And when the Disciples heard that they began to perswade him and earnestly entreat him not to go to Jerusalem and laid before him the Consideration of his Sufferings thinking to prevent him of his Journey Well but what doth Paul do in this Case Doth he neglect the Work of the Lord to avoid his Sufferings Doth he forbear to go because of Danger No it s almost Death to him to think of forbearing and leaving the Work of the Lord undone at
things except we our selves have an interest in them and can call them ours It will do us little good to hear of the Saints happiness if we our selves are miserable Therefore I say let us take heed and diligently examine how it is with us lest any root of bitterness spring up in our souls and defile us and make us unfit for this Glorious Kingdom for no unclean thing nor no unrighteous person shall ever inherit this Heavenly Kingdom There 's none shall be blessed with the visions of God in the Kingdom of Heaven but such as have clean hands and a pure heart and are cleansed from sin and iniquity There 's none shall receive the Kingdom which cannot be moved but such as serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear There 's none shall dwell in the presence of God in his Heavenly Habitation but such as are humble and upright in conversation There 's none shall be happy in Heaven but such as are holy and heavenly minded on earth for without holiness no man shall see God and to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace Therefore let us not flatter our selves with vain fancies nor satisfie our selves with a bare profession of Godliness nor proclaim peace and safety to our selves with sin in our bosoms for if we do we shall be deceived and undone for ever For God cannot be mocked but whatsoever a man soweth that he shall also Reap And his servants ye are to whom you yeeld obedience Therefore sayes Christ Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Mark Not every one that professeth his Name and calls him Lord but he that lives in obedience to the Will of God There must be a walking with God as well as a talking of God There must be a DOING the Will of God as well as a SPEAKING the Will of God It is not enough to say that Jesus Christ is our Lord but we must make it appear by our actions and by our obedient conversations that he is Lord of our hearts and that he Rules and Reigns in our Souls for there are a great many that can call Jesus Christ Lord Lord with their tongues and yet work iniquity with their hands and intend mischief in their hearts But alas such shall never find acquaintance with God at the last day nor never be entertained nor received into this Heavenly Kingdom For every one that names the Name of Christ must depart from iniquity and abhor that which is evil or else they must expect to be denyed by Christ and to depart out of his presence as workers of iniquity and all their profession will be so far from doing them any good as it will rather rise up in Judgement against them and condemn them at the last day Therefore it highly concerns us all to examine seriously how the case stands with us and to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure by an humble walking with God and by a constant persevering in the pure wayes of the Lord lest we should deceive our own souls and miss of his Glorious Reward in this Heavenly Kingdom And if upon Examination we find our selves to be in Gods way standing upon a sure foundation then we may rejoyce in the goodness of God and satisfie our souls at this Heavenly Fountain and so long as we continue faithful to God in purity of soul we may challenge an interest in this Heavenly Portion and call the Kingdom and all its glory ours and all the Promises of God in Christ Jesus are Yea and Amen to us that by them we might be encouraged to continue and persevere in Holiness and Righteousness all the dayes of our lives to the praise and glory of him who hath called us to this Heavenly Kingdom But now give me leave to intermix a word of Caution into this Use of Examination and that is this If upon right Examination we find that we have an interest in this Glorious Kingdom Then let us take heed that we do not turn aside out of the wayes of God and travel again in the paths of iniquity and so lose our interest and be deprived of that Kingdom which once we had a right unto Let us take heed that the Devil do not beguile us with his golden baits of sin and iniquity and so rob us of our Heavenly Portion Let us take heed that we do not fell our Heavenly Birth-right for a little worldly pottage nor change our Heavenly Kingdom for a little earthly profit or worldly advantage I say let us take heed of these things lest there should spring up some Root of Bitterness in our souls and cause us to depart from the living God and grieve his holy Spirit with our evil wayes and give him occasion to swear in his wrath That we shall never enter into this Heavenly Rest for it is not every one that begins well But he that endures to the END shall be saved not every one that follows Jesus Christ for a little season and so leave Him that shall receive the Reward But he that continues and abideth faithful unto DEATH shall receive the Crown of Life it is not every one that begins to fight well that shall obtain the prize But he that overcometh shall inherit all things Therefore let us take heed that we do not grow weary of well doing and so faint before we Reap Neither let us give place to the Devil lest he deprive us of our Eternal Harvest and plunder us of our Heavenly Treasure but let us continue and persevere all our dayes in the work and service of our Heavenly Father and never turn again unto folly for Alas we had better never begin well except we continue so and end well For if after we have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus Christ we are again intangled therein and overcome then our latter end will be worse than our beginning for it had been better for us never to have KNOWN the way of Righteousness than after we have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto us 2 Pet. 2.20 21. Therefore now let us take our last leave of every evil work and wholly apply our selves to the work and service of God and make it our meat and drink to do the Will of our Heavenly Father And as the Lord hath called us to a Heavenly Kingdom so let us exercise our selves in heavenly things and be no more in love with the beggerly things of this life but let us alwayes be found acting suitable to our Profession and walking in such wayes as become those that are Heirs of a Glorious Kingdom confessing that we are but Strangers and Pilgrims here on earth having our affections estranged from the things of this world That we may declare plainly that here we have no continuing
Heavenly Calling by a cheerful continuing in the paths of Holiness Oh! let us take heed that our Actions do not witness against our Words and our Conversations give our Profession the lye But as we bear a Heavenly Profession so let us lead a Heavenly Conversation and let us not suffer our hearts and affections to run out after the things of this Life But if we be risen with Christ let us seek those things which are above and set our Affections there where we profess our Portion is and let us manifest our selves to be Heirs of this Kingdom by our constant continuing in the work of the Kingdom and let us not shame our selves nor disgrace our Royal Profession with doring upon the beggerly things of this World but let us make it appear to the World that we are the Sons of God and Heirs of Heaven by abounding in the fruits of the Spirit and devoting our selves to Heavenly things and let us take heed that we do not defile our selves with any of the works of Darkness nor stain our Heavenly Reputation with wandring in the filthy paths of Iniquity For we that profess our selves to be Heirs of this Glorious Kingdom we must not expect to walk as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds and in the lusts of the flesh for if we do we must expect to be rewarded accordingly But we must if we expect a better Reward than others exercise our selves in a better Work than others and we must put off our former Conversation and cast away the old Man with his deeds which is corrupt and be renewed in the Spirit of our Minds and put on the new Man which after God is created in Righteousness true Holiness that so we may adorn our Princely Profession and walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are Called For pray consider what an unsuitable thing it would be for a Prince or one that is Heir to an Earthly Kingdom to go up and down in Beggers Apparel and associate himself with the meanest and basest of the People and expose himself to such a contemptible Course of life as to spend his time in the works of drudgery and slavish employment and take up his lodging with Beggers on a dunghil or under a hedge and yet keep up his Princely Profession and proclaim himself to be the Son of a King and Heir to a Kingdom I say it would be accounted a very unsuitable thing and a great dishonour to one of his degree and it would very much stain and diminish his Reputation in the eyes of the World and render him very ridiculous amongst his Friends and Relations How much more would it be an unsuitable thing for us that professe our selves to be the Children of GOD and Princes of HEAVEN and Heirs to an ETERNAL Kingdom if we should suffer the rags of unrighteousness to rest upon us and go along with the wicked in the paths of impurity and exercise our selves in the Devils drudgery and set our affections upon the unprofitable dunghils of this Life take up our lodging here under the hedges of Earthly Vanity Oh! how unsuitable would it be to our Heavenly Profession And how greatly would it derogate from God and diminish the Reputation of Godliness And how unworthy and unfit should we render our selves of such a Glorious Inheritance and we should cause the way of Truth to be mightily abused and manifest our selves to be no better than Hypocrites Therefore now let us endeavour to regulate and order our Conversations aright in the fear of the Lord and to walk circumspectly both in Words and Actions redeeming the time because the dayes are evil and let no corrupt Communication proceed out of our mouths nor no corrupt Actions be seen in our lives but rather let the appearance of Gods Grace unto our Souls teach as to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously in this present evil World that so we may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing increasing and abounding in the fruits of the Spirit and continuing and persevering in the way of the Lord all the dayes of our lives to the Praise and Glory of him who hath called us to such a Heavenly Glorious unmoveable Kingdom Now the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make us perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father through the Spirit of Grace be Blessing and Glory Wisdom and Thanksgiving Honour and Power Might Majesty and Dominion now henceforth and for evermore Amen THE END